Access updates

[The Bait Shop Guy]

No recent reports on water temps, but it has to be in the low to mid 30's now. Ice starting to form along the shorelines.

I called public works in Escanaba and Gladstone today, to see when the docks would be pulled.

The guy I talked to in Gladstone said he thought the Gladstone harbor dock was supposed to be pulled out Monday afternoon, (yesterday,) because the harbor froze over the weekend. He said they were still in at Kipling. Those are taken care of by the DNR, so who knows when they'll get pulled, (usually after the access has froze.)

The Escanaba River is starting to freeze. They plan to leave the docks in through this weekend, and pull them next Monday, (Dec. 2nd.) The Escanaba harbor is the last to freeze, and the guy I talked to wasn't sure when the docks there would be pulled. It'll be good to go at least through the coming weekend.

[The Bait Shop Guy]

What a difference a few days make! We've had a couple nights in the single digits, and all but one of the accesses has iced up. The only usable one right now is the North Shore launch, (Escanaba River.) There is ice from the launch, downstream about 75 yards, but guys have been breaking ice to get out, (there were a couple rigs in the parking lot when I checked today.)
The docks are supposed to be pulled from the River on Monday, so this weekend will be the "last hurrah" for the boat anglers this year.

On the plus side, the icefishing season will be in full swing in no time, if the weather holds. There were actually a few guys icefishing in the Escanaba harbor today. The one I talked to said there was 4 inches of ice in the area near the bridge, where they were fishing. The most interesting observation today was that the entire bay north of Gladstone was iced over!

Won't be long, now!